Commentary: New reform offers world 'China opportunities'

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BEIJING, March 7 -- Amid uncertain global economic recovery, China's reform plans as pledged by Premier Li Keqiang, which cover everything from the economy to the environment, bring opportunities for world development.

In his government work report delivered to the nation's top legislature earlier this week, Li reaffirmed that reform is the top priority for the government.

The basket of reform plans includes promoting market forces and domestic consumption, streamlining the administrative approval system and opening state-controlled industries such as banking, power generation and railways to private investment.

The plans also promise to level the playing field for Chinese and foreign companies to promote competition.

All of this is good news for the world, except for the "fortune-tellers" who have repeatedly claimed to have foreseen the "collapse" of China. None of them have turned out to be genuine prophets.

Despite the growing trend of protectionism in some developed economies, China has vowed to open up more service sectors to foreign capital and encourage imports, which means fresh opportunities for market players worldwide.

The move also helps ease international trade conflicts.

While foreign enterprises enjoy a shrinking "negative list" in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone, Li's promise to expand the trial to cities in the country's interior should win the applause of the world.

China's transformation from an export-oriented economy to a service and domestic demand-oriented one will dramatically promote the economic growth of many countries, including the United States, the European Union countries and developing economies.

Against the backdrop of weak global demand, the growing potential of a market with a population of 1.3 billion could strengthen its position as an engine of the global economy.

As the government adjusts the income distribution system to increase disposable income, the middle class will play an important role in investment and consumption. This will put China in good shape in the global economic landscape.

On the administrative reform front, the efforts to reduce government influence and build a clean government based on the rule of law indicate foreign enterprises can really count on legal instruments whenever conflicts rise.

Environmentally, the declaration of war against air, water and soil pollution also means huge demand for technologies and products from developed countries.

No matter what kind of mindset Western observers hold on China's development, the country is sticking to its own path of reform to achieve a shift in its growth model.

With its GDP standing at nearly 57 trillion yuan, China is trying to go beyond the "middle income trap." The only solution is reform, albeit in a different way from the West.